


The AGIG Reality Doll Enhancer

by kelseybluewolfe



Series: The AGIG Reality Doll Enhancer Series [1]
Category: AGIG, agigrde - Fandom, american girl
Genre: AGIG - Freeform, American Girl Instagram, Disneyland, Doll Turns Alive, Drama, F/M, Family Adventure, Gen, Growing Up, Magic, Magical Chair, The name is weird and long, Twin sisters, agigrde, doll - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23482834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kelseybluewolfe/pseuds/kelseybluewolfe
Summary: Fifteen year old Emily Roses is a doll photographer.At a yard sale, she stumbles across a strange doll chair that somehow brings her favorite doll to life.While she's busy trying to figure out whether this doll will be her best friend or worst nightmare, the girl discovers her twin sister's been getting bullied at school, and that she's fallen head over heels with a boy who lives in another state.What in the world is happening to her life?
Relationships: Emiline Roses/Brandon Gardner
Series: The AGIG Reality Doll Enhancer Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689442





	1. Chapter 1

_Emily_

  
As I snapped that last picture, I glanced up at the sky. The sun had started to fall, indicating it might be time that I go inside. I wouldn't be able to take any good photos in the dark without the proper equipment, and I wasn't about to go out to the electronics store on a school night to do that. With the camera attached to the neck strap, I let it fall from my grasp as I grabbed my doll, Rosie, from the grass. I had taken everything inside and up to my room. 

I picked up the wifi camera that I had used to take the doll pictures with and started syncing them to my phone. After selecting all the pictures I wanted, I sent them straight to my tablet. I went onto my American Girl Instagram account and uploaded the best picture I took from the whole photoshoot. 

After tossing the doll I used for the photo shoot onto my bed, I looked through my window and saw my friends wave at me.

I quickly shoved all my doll props and dolls into the closet and put the camera equipment under the bed. I hadn't exactly told anyone outside of my family about my social media account with my favorite hobby.

What would they say if they knew I was a doll photographer? I was too embarrassed to admit it.

My friends came up the stairs and I quickly logged into my personal account and out of my doll's social media account. 

They busted into my room without knocking and scared the living jawaheewies out of me. I jumped and nearly dropped my phone. They laughed and I giggled nervously.

"Jeez Em, you're so jumpy!" Lexi remarked.

"Y'all barged into my room without knocking!" I reminded them, laughing.

"Well, we have a good reason this time! Actually, we came in to invite you to come with us to a cool yard sale. All the kids at school are there right now! There are even working cell phones being sold there for $25!" Quinn told me, flipping her hair.

"We better get moving then!" I replied, looking down at my outdated phone.

Avalon grabbed my arm and we all started to dart out the door. Luckily it wasn't all at the same time or I would've run smack into the wall.

We all ran down the stairs, I quickly grabbed my purse at the door and we ran out of the house. My parents were at work and my twin sister, Sarah, was out on a jog.

We ran down the street, straight to the yard sale. Like a billion kids from my school were there and grabbing all the electronic stuff.

I looked to the side and saw the cutest doll chair. It was wooden, and painted pink. It had a painted flower on the seat and there was some button on the seat where the doll's posterior was supposed to go.

My friends were tangling in the mess of teenagers grabbing cell phones like it was Black Friday. I picked up the chair and made sure my friends didn't see.

I discreetly snuck up to the owner and asked how much the chair would cost.

"It's priceless. Are you a doll collector?" the old lady asked.

Looking back at my friends, I saw they were still distracted.

I nodded to confirm it.

"So how much do you want me to give you-if you still want to sell it of course! I don't want to take away a valuable family treasure!" I told her.

“I've had my share of adventures with it. Now it's your turn. Just be careful how you use it," She laughed, pushing it back toward me.

"I will," I pushed myself to laugh, "So how much would you like for it?"

"No price, darling. I can tell just right now that you are going to have a magical experience with the chair!" She told me, a sense of pride shining in her smile.

She must've really liked it was a kid, I assumed. She kept calling it magical and saying it had "adventures" in it or whatever.

I didn't exactly play with dolls, but I photographed them.

"Thank you so much, Ma'am!" I replied politely.

She winked at me and walked over to scold the trampling teenagers. I saw a younger woman follow her, then look back at me with surprise that I had the chair.

She poked her mother, or whoever the older lady was, but she seemed to reassure her that it was okay for me to have.

Reluctantly, I placed the tiny chair in my purse. I noticed on the bottom of the chair, it read "RDE." I was confused by that but just brushed it off unknowingly.

My friends excitedly paid for their phones and we left.

"What did you buy, Emily?" Lexi asked me.

My face flushed hot with embarrassment as I pulled out the chair.

"Is that a doll chair?" Avalon asked.

"No, it's just a decoration for my room. I thought it was cute so I bought it for ninety-nine cents," I told them.

"Oh..." They all replied in unison.

There was a hint of judgement in their voices, I could've sworn.

"Anyways, I gotta go back home. My essay isn't done yet," I lied to them.

They all said goodbye and we headed off in separate directions.

I got home and grabbed Rosie and my photography equipment out and I placed them. I set up the camera on the tripod and picked up the small chair. I put it by my small wooden doll table.

I placed Rosie onto the chair and her rear end hit the button, then turned around to grab my phone.

I heard a ringing bell sound, so I spun around to find an eight-year-old girl with the exact features and clothing of my own freaking doll sitting in a big version of the chair I had just bought.

The floor begin to sway back and forth as if we were a rocking ship on an unruly, angry ocean. I felt my hands and feet go numb.

Was I dreaming, or did my doll just become a human being?

"Holy crap!! Who are you?! Oh my-" I screamed out, trying to back away slowly.

"Wait!" She shouted out, which caused me to accidentally slam the back of myself into the wall when I jumped backwards at full force.

I felt my head pound in the back, and the numbness caught up with the rest of me before I saw the blurring world turn to black.

Likely around an hour later, I was being shaken awake by my very panicked sister.

"Oh my gosh, what the heck? Emily, are you okay?! Can you hear me, Em?!" I heard her begin to worry.

I groaned, pushing myself to open my eyes. "I'm fine, Sarah. I think I just... had some sort of concussion-caused hallucination. Dear lord, I feel like trash."

She took a deep breath of relief. "You look like trash," Sarah admitted laughingly, to which I lightly smacked her shoulder. "No, but seriously, you looked dead. You could've fooled me."

"Don't worry, I'm fine now. I just had the weirdest dream or hallucination thing," I reassured her, then glanced over my shoulder to check on the desk.

It was empty. Wasn't it where I left Rosie and the chair?

"What was it?" Sarah asked me as I turned around to check under the desk for my items.

They weren't there either.

My head begin to spin a little as I picked up my pace to search other places in the room for my doll and "magical" chair.

They should've been there if they were inanimate objects. They were inanimate objects, yet they seemed to have moved. I must've put them somewhere during my hallucinatory state.

That made sense, right?

"Em, what's wrong?!" Sarah asked me with a little uncertainty.

I hummed nervously in response, checking under my bed, then behind the desk.

Facing the closet, I knew this might be a normal place I might've put them. If I didn't put the doll here, where else?

I closed my eyes and pushed the closet door open. When I opened them, I was met with the same little girl, sitting on a human-sized version of the chair.

I jumped back ten feet, letting out a ear-splitting scream in response.

"No, that did not happen, I cannot be awake!!" I yelled, running to grab Sarah's arm to try and pull her out of the room.

"Emily, why is there a kid in our closet, and why are you panicking?" Sarah asked me, her tone growing more worried.

The girl walked out and blocked the bedroom door, "You don't have to yell, you know. You have the most annoying scream, Emily."

I felt Sarah's grip around my arm tighten, and I leaned back further against her. We were cornered at the furthest point of the room now, and stuck in a room with a living doll.

How else should I have reacted?

"Anyways I should introduce myself properly. My name is Rosie and I have been your doll for 8 years. I've seen and heard things you've said and done. Not everything was pleasant,” she shuddered, "Trust me. I remember every single phase you had, including that boy-crazy phase where you kissed that boy band poster every single-"

"Oh gosh, you saw everything?!" I cut her off, beginning to die of shame.

"What?! No, dolls don't come to life! That's not a thing! Emily, what did you do?!" Sarah asked me frantically, grabbing my shoulder.

"I have no idea! I didn't think dolls came to life either, but apparently here's Rosie?!" I tried to laugh, but it came out incredibly terrified.

"It was the chair, dingbat," Rosie reminded me, pointing at it.

_"I've had my share of adventures with it. Now it's your turn."_

Was this what that elderly lady meant when she was referring to it being an adventurous, magical chair? That it brought dolls to life? How did a tiny wooden chair do that?

"Uh... I- I don't know how this works. Are you going to try to kill me?" I asked, completely unsure of what I should say or do.

What were you supposed to ask your living childhood doll?

"No, I'm not. I'm your doll, not a demon. You took care of me, and now I'm supposedly serving you. So what do you want me to do, _Master_?" Rosie asked, sarcastically emphasizing her nickname for me.

"Uh... Nice to meet you," I uttered out, still unsure of how else to react.

I held my hand out for her to shake. She looked down at it, then back at me.

"I know you already. I have lived with you for the past 8 years. It's actually not terrible to talk with you for once." Rosie had said.

I put my hand back down.

"So how are you alive and actually in a human form?" I asked her.

"It's the special one-of-a-kind chair called the Reality Doll Enhancer. I learned about it when I was in this doll training thing as a spirit. Technically I was a human before but my life ended tragically short so I became a doll for you. Apparently, you're my master."

I nervously laughed, "Haha... What?"

"Like I just said, it means that you've taken care of me as I was a doll and now I supposedly serve you," she replied.

"You really don't have to do that," I told her, thinking this was probably another concussion-based hallucination.

"Are you sure? I mean, since you used the chair to bring my spirit out and make me human, this is my purpose," Rosie explained.

"Spirit?! Chair?! What in the world is that supposed to... I don't get this paranormal stuff. Like Em, I know you like picking up old doll stuff at yard sales, but I didn't know we'd be involved with haunted chairs and paranormal activity?! How are we supposed to fix this?" Sarah asked in a panic.

"Fix it? You dingbat, there is no fixing it. I'm out now and there's no changing me back."

"Well, what do you expect me to tell our parents about a random demon child in our room? Just, 'Oh, she's chilling,' or what?!" Sarah asked her.

"Well, you could be a jerk and send me to an adoption agency, or you could figure out something else. Emily, would you really get rid of your favorite doll?" Rosie asked, turning toward me with puppy-dog eyes. "I'm good with that," Sarah responded, completely unopposed to the idea.

"We'll figure something out," I elbowed my sister.

"Like what?" Sarah asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"She could be a made-up family member's daughter who was sent to us. Maybe we can have her walk in after our parents get home and she can cry or something," I suggested, shrugging.

"I don't cry."

"You would if you were sent to an orphanage," Sarah pointed out.

"I don't like you," Rosie decided.

"Alright, let's just figure out a plan so we could convince our parents she's family."

* * *

"I'm so sorry for bothering you this late!! I just had nowhere else to go, and my late mother told me before she died about how amazing her fifth cousin, three times removed, was and I thought if there was anyone kind enough to take me in, it would be the amazing Aunt Pamela and Uncle Ian Roses! I understand if you're upset and don't want to take me in... I can find another relative if it's too much trouble for you really sweet people," Rosie blubbered with her fake crocodile tears, just as we rehearsed.

"Oh dear, we'd love to help, but we're not home enough with our busy jobs. Ian, what do you think?" Our mother tried to sympathize, asking our father.

With the puppy-dog eyes she gave me, she flashed my father with them as well, and it didn't take much to get a response out of him.

"Of course you can stay! The trouble is that we're never home, but our teenage daughters... your sixth cousins? They can take care of any needs you may have. We have to leave for the airport tonight-"

"Didn't you just get home an hour ago?" Sarah interrupted.

"Yeah, we can take care of her while you're gone. No trouble at all," I told them, "It'll be just like having a little sister!"

"When are you leaving?" Sarah asked our father, trying to hide the fact that her own eyes were growing misty.

Gosh, why did she have to cry? She was going to make me cry too.

I didn't want them to go either, but at least this way, we could figure out more about the chair without having to hide the fact that Rosie was my doll.

They'd think I was crazy.

"We've got to be there in two hours, so that gives us forty-five minutes to re-pack," he said.

"Then it's settled! You can stay here. We've got a guest room, and tomorrow, the girls can take you shopping for anything you don't have," my mom reassured her, inviting her in.

She handed me some cash from her purse to use on her for the next day.

"Thanks, Mom!" I said to her, then waved Rosie over.

"I'll get her set up for the night."

"Not even a whole two hours. That's a record," Sarah grumbled, her voice breaking as she followed me out.

"Sarah..." My dad called after her as we left, but she didn't even turn.

As soon as we walked out of the living room, I heard her whimpering cry break out once, although it was quieter.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll see them again next weekend," I squeezed my sister in a side-hug reassuringly.

"Dang, looks like we've got the house to ourselves soon," Rosie joked as an attempt to try and lighten the mood as much as she could, "We could throw a party like they do in those movies."

"Yeah, they'd still kill us," I replied with a short laugh.

"That's brutal! They would kill their own children for having a party? Give them life and take it away? Sheesh," Rosie commented, completely appalled by this idea.

"It's an expression," I reassured her, giggling, "It means they would get mad."

"That is pretty exaggerated," Rosie realized.

"It is," I agreed.

"Anyway, this is your bedroom now. You can decorate it however you want now that you’re going to pretty much be our little sister!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Emily_

The next morning, we woke up at 6:00 A.M. for school. We had decided to let Rosie sleep in since dolls obviously don't have school and wouldn't exactly see us until after we got out. I covered her with blankets and made sure everything she'd need for later was set for her when she'd wake up.

Sarah and I got ready for school, ate breakfast, and left. We had decided to walk to school today instead of taking our usual separate routes since we had enough time. She was pretty quiet the whole way there, so I just kept walking at her pace. Like me, although to a stronger degree, I knew she was still upset about our parents leaving so quickly after coming back from work, so I let her keep to herself.

We went to math, our first class. With my sister having such high levels of anxiety, it was decided that we'd have all the same classes.

In math class, her assigned seat was behind me. Around that time, I’d heard my sister’s name being mentioned in passing conversations, mostly whispered. I was hoping it was just friendly talk, but knowing the kids in my grade, I knew it wasn’t likely.

I was already aware Sarah wasn't the most popular. If I was being honest, at the beginning of high school when I realized it, I should've been a little less self-absorbed and just invited her to hang out with my friends. Unfortunately, I had been rather selfish at this point in my life and preferred that we kept separate social lives in high school. I had just wanted something of my own for once, and I thought nothing of it. Sarah seemed okay to me, just shy in public as usual.

"What? You gonna cry, Fattie?" I heard a voice whisper, so I quickly turned around.

"Who said that?" I whispered to Sarah as the teacher began the math lesson.

"Don’t know, but if someone said that to me, I really don't care," she told me, staring straight down at her notebook.

"Dang, you’re strong. Good job not letting her get to you," I told her. 

She smiled and our attention went back to the boring math lesson. "Sarah, can you tell us the formula to a quadratic function?" the teacher called her out, having noticed the fact we weren’t focused on her lecturing.

Sarah looked up at her more confidently than usual, reciting, "Y equals negative b, plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4 times a times c, all divided by 2 times a".

We continued to take notes on what I had found to be the world's most horrible subject at the time. After feeling the straining of my wrist with what seemed like having the writer's cramp of a lifetime, the stern math teacher reluctantly dismissed our class a minute after the bell rang.

I had to head on to my absolute least favorite class, physical education. After the students changed out from our street clothes to our gym clothing in the locker room, we were forced to go on the daily class meeting spot where Mr. Montez usually took our attendance.

Mr. Montez had been our P.E. teacher for the year. I would've liked to call him an enthusiastic character, but that would've been an understatement with that hardcore eccentric personality.

"Okay, class!! Who can guess what we're doing today?! We are running for the first time this year!!! In partners!! Does anyone remember why having a running buddy is important?! Because your health is!!" Mr. Montez shouted at us.

Avalon grabbed me as a partner, so Lexi and Quinn partnered. I saw that Sarah awkwardly found some random dude. Everyone else in the class partnered up and we started walking towards the field.

"Emily!" I heard a whisper. My vision shot around, scanning for the person who'd shouted it.

As I continued to scan around like I had paranoia, people threw me questioning looks whenever my glance landed on or around them.

Was that just my imagination?

"Em-i-lyyyy!!" I heard it again, more viciously shouted in a whispering manner.

I glanced past Avalon, checking on Sarah to see if she was trying to get my attention. No one was even looking at me like they wanted something.

"Emiline Roses, can you hear me?!" I heard my name being whisper-shouted again from a nearby bush.

"What in the name of-" I started to say and I saw my humanized doll crouching beneath a bush. A sense of panic shot through me, and I felt my body freeze up a little as I had nearly forgotten our situation.

"Avalon, I'll catch up with you in a second," I excused myself quickly, acting like I had to tie my shoe. 

"Okay, don't be too late," she joked before walking with the rest of the class.

"Rosie, what are you doing here?!" I quickly asked as I pretended to re-tie my shoes beside that bush.

"I got bored," she admitted, to which I sighed.

"I'm at school. I can't exactly do much entertaining or having fun while I'm stuck here. Did you eat breakfast or try watching TV? How did you even get here?" I asked, nervously watching as my class lined up to begin running soon.

"I walked, doofus. Also what the heck should I do while I'm waiting for your lame butt to get out of school?" Rosie asked.

"Go to our local park where we always take photoshoots!" I instructed. 

She nodded and ran out of the bush. Luckily, no one in my class noticed a thing, except Sarah who threw me a questioning look. I shrugged, mouthing I'd tell her later.

I jogged up to my partner, Avalon.

"Did you tie your shoes right?" She asked jokingly.

"I think so," I replied, laughing.

The horn to get started blew and we ran as fast as our feet could take us.

Thanks to my fantastic case of severe asthma and lack of any previous rigorous physical activity, it wasn't long before it started to feel like I was trying to breath through a plastic bag with the world's tiniest hole in it. To say the least, I had started to see stars in broad daylight and my world went dark.

I woke up a little later in the nurse's office, laying on a bed. Because I'd been pretty befuddled and disoriented, I had been sent home for the day. I guess Rosie had lucked out that day, because I was able to meet her at the park earlier than I was planning.

"Dang, I went through all these slides and climbing things like ten times in an hour. Some people asked me where my mom was, and I had to lie. Is that bad?" Rosie asked me, looking up at me with some guilt on her face.

"Normally lying is bad, but... we're dealing with weird stuff right now. You're okay. No one did anything bad to you, right?" I asked, lowering my voice when I asked the last part.

"No. There were parents around the whole time," she told me, shrugging.

"Okay, good," I replied. "Are you hungry?"

"If hungry means what I think it does, then yes. I think so."

* * *

  
"Where the heck did you go during P.E.?" Sarah asked when she got home, "I didn't see you at lunch, and your friends said you left for the day."

"I had an asthma attack, so the nurse kicked me out and sent me home."

"Oh gosh, I didn't see that. Are you okay?" She asked me, dropping her stuff.

"Yeah, it wore off quickly after I used the inhaler," I shrugged, "It was only like five minutes long."

"That's good. Yeah, I wasn't sure what happened. Next time, do you mind texting me?" She asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone. Picking up her backpack again, she grabbed her phone from her front zipper pocket to shove in her jacket.

"What does that matter? You don't need me for transportation back home," I snapped a little, irritated at her irritation.

"You're right, but I thought since we walked to school together today that maybe we'd walk back home together. Also it's nice to know when my science partner and sister is going to be gone so I don't have to worry," she pointed out, hissing slightly from her teeth as she spoke that last sentence.

Being oblivious to her lack of popularity at the school, and how her high-anxiety problems caused others to treat her, I assumed she was just being annoying. In my defense, the girl never mentioned a word of it.

"Why the heck would you need to worry? I'm my own human being, and so are you. Stop acting like a mom," I told her, only half-way aware of the snotty tone I was using.

"You-" Sarah narrowed her eyes, "Fine! Whatever. Text me, don't text me. I guess it doesn't matter if the only family member you have here cares about you or not. Jerk."

She walked away, throwing her hands up in a surrendering, annoyed manner.

"Insecure leech!" I threw an insult back at her, to which she threw a certain finger back toward me.

* * *

The next morning, we pulled ourselves up and out of bed to get ready for school, practically having forgotten the argument we had the day before.

After brushing my teeth, I threw on a faded denim skirt with a white short-sleeved crop that printed "Coffee-dependent" in black text. I pulled on white knit knee-high socks and my black Mary Jane style wedges. I whipped out my mom's old curling iron and quickly fixed my ombré hair, mostly curling the pink bottoms of it while smoothing out the blonde from my chin and up.

I went to my make-up drawer and quickly put on the base foundation onto my face. I brushed up a rosy blush on my cheekbones. After applying my mascara, eye shadow, and winged eyeliner (after messing up half a kazillion times), I touched up my lips with some red lipstick and a little gloss. I felt ready to move on with my day.

Sarah pulled her messy shoulder-length hair into a medium-high ponytail and threw on a baggy blue t-shirt over some denim short shorts.

I helped Rosie into a purple dress I wore when I was eight years old and it fit her perfectly. I was surprised to find that Mom had hoarded all our clothes and shoes from our entire lives, considering I thought she didn't care about Sarah and I.

We all ate breakfast downstairs in the kitchen which was just cereal, toast, and orange juice.

My friend, Lexi, texted me to meet her out front of my house since she was driving me and our squad to school. I said goodbye to Sarah and Rosie and walked out front. Lexi pulled up into our driveway with her cool black car and I hopped in. Quinn was already in the backseat.

“Girl, you look so on fleek today!!" Lexi gushed.

"OMG, Em! Love your outfit today!" Quinn added.

I thanked them and returned the compliments to them as well. They always looked well-dressed and wore the cutest clothes. 

Lexi drove us to Avalon's house to pick her up for school as well. We arrived and she looked as cute as usual. We always wore these kinds of outfits so it was a usual thing for us to just compliment each other every morning. It was more like a way to boost each other's spirits first thing in the morning.

We arrived at school and was like twenty minutes early. We pretty much talked and strolled around the school hallways. Lexi said something that caught my attention and might've sent me into a tiny panic.

"Hey guys! Did you know that there are teenagers who take pictures of dolls and post them on a community called "dollagram" or "GAIG" or something? I was cringing so hard when I found out people actually did this! I mean, aren't they kinda old for that? I'd understand if they were like under the age of twelve, but these people are like our age," Lexi described, scrunching her nose.

I turned beet red. My friends all discussed their negative opinions on the subject, thinking that it was a weird thing to do.

" _You know something, Lexi? People have hobbies and you should respect them. If taking pictures of dolls is something they enjoy, they should do it! It doesn't matter how old they are. If it makes them happy, it's a good thing. It isn't like they're doing anything unhealthy or harmful. Those doll photographers get nasty little comments everyday about it, and they get stared at for doing something that seems ridiculous to the rest of the world! It's just their form of artistic expression! So please think before you decide to judge anyone!_ " I ranted mentally out of frustration.

If I had said it out loud, it probably would've been more effective.

My friends laughed and joked around with that idea while I was dying internally the entire time.

I successfully attempted at changing the subject once I started up about the new lip gloss brand I found. We walked around the halls discussing makeup until the bell rang. I had a separate class from them and so I left for my math class.

I sat down right before the tardy bell rang. I turned to talk to my sister behind me.

I was surprised to see that she was lying her head on her arms, hiding her face. The teacher was running late so a security guard was assigned to watch us the whole period.

"Hey, Sarah!" I tried greeting her. She didn't respond to me at all. Her face remained buried in her arms.

"Hey, what‘a up? Are you sleeping?" I asked her, getting out of my chair to move it back so it would be next to her.

I heard her quietly try to hide her sniffles and restrain her shoulders from shuddering.

What?

I noticed a few wadded up paper balls stuck in her ponytail. I pulled one out and unwadded it to read a nasty word. 

Was this why she was so upset? To say I was feeling angry at the moment would've been an understatement. I was furious.

No one was allowed to call her that.

"Tell me," I grabbed her arm, "Who called you this?"

"It's fine," she muttered through her tears, her response hardly decipherable due to the lower volume. 

She raised her head to wipe her tears away, and that was when I saw the big, horrendous black eye.

She must've seen the shock on my face turn to absolute fury, because she quickly grabbed my wrist and tried to reassure me, "Emily- it's nothing, I swear! I- I ran into a pole. You weren't there- because P.E.!"

"Nothing?!” I repeated, my tone growing more and more incredulous, "Sarah, you think a freaking black eye- is nothing?! And don't you try to tell me this happened yesterday during P.E. because I know I saw you after school! Who did this?!"

"Shh! Y-You're making a big deal out of nothing, Emily. It was a... a pole, okay?" Sarah tried to tell me as more tears spilled down her cheeks, yanking at my wrist more frantically.

"Why would- When?" I started to argue, but then I demanded, "When did you run into this pole? And why are you crying?"

"I'm crying- because it hurts!" Sarah seethed, letting go of me to wipe her tears off her face, "It happened right before I got on the freaking bus this morning, okay?!"

The security guard came over and asked me to calmly address the problem. I angrily explained the whole situation to him.

"Someone gave my sister a black eye, and obviously threatened her into hiding their identity! She won't tell me, and they probably bullied her! This school has a zero-tolerance bullying policy, and bullying happened!"

"Stay calm, Miss. You girls are excused to go to Principal Pinning’s to report the incident," he said while writing us a pass.

I stormed out of the classroom, dragging a resistant Sarah out with me.

Once we left, I asked her again, "Just tell me. Who did this to you?"

"Stop! Please, it's fine! Can we not go to the principal's office? Please?!? I'm okay now! We don't need to tell the principal!" Sarah tried to convince me, pleading that I leave the situation alone.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to go into the office. She yelled and begged not to go but I still made her anyway. She panicked as I asked the secretary to let us see the principal. She made us wait on the seats beside the office.

"Please, it's not a big deal! We really don't need to tell the principal. Oh gosh, she's gonna kill me," she panicked, voicing her thoughts without filtering her mouth.

"Just tell me what happened! Who hit you?! No one will hear you here," I told her.  


She groaned, dropping her face into her hands and pulling her knees up on the chair. 

"Sarah, come on.”

She lifted her head, opening her mouth to say something just as the principal called us to come into her office. I snuck her a sympathetic glance, but she walked ahead of me to get away.

We walked into her office and sat in the chairs. 

Mrs. Pinning sat down in her chair and asked, "Alright girls, what's going on here?"

I snatched a few more wadded up papers from Sarah's hair, unwrinkled them and handed them to her.

"I thought I got them all out," my sister pushed my hand away, shaking her head and running her fingers through her ponytail while still holding one hand over her eye.

I pulled Sarah's protective hand away, revealing the injury to Mrs. Pinning.

"Did someone hit you, Sarah?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowing with worry.

"Apparently she won't tell us cause she says someone's going to kill her," I said, earning a soft whack in the arm from my annoyed sister.

"Sweetie, this," she motioned to Sarah’s eye, "is considered bullying. Whoever is doing this is not a friend. You shouldn’t feel obligated to protect them for hurting you."

I squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

When she looked back up at me, I wanted to burst into tears as well. Sarah looked so alone and scared; I could've sworn that I'd never seen her anxiety this bad. 

The principal said she'd get back to us in a few minutes. She left the office to print something for a staff member or something.

"Sarah, who did it?" I attempted to ask her, "I won’t let this person hurt you again. Please, just tell me who it is."

She looked at me like she was going to say something but then let her gaze drop to her feet.

"I know you’re scared, but I can help you. We can make sure- I will make sure they can’t hurt you. Please, at least talk to me."

Her voice cracked as she told me, "I'm fine, I told you, Em! I don't know why you brought me here!! St-Stop being so dramatic-"

But then she burst into tears.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sarah_

I had never felt worse than I did then. I couldn't even look at Emily's face, because I knew it would've made it harder to stop the tears.

To start from the beginning of that day, I had to painfully force myself on the school bus, just as I did every morning when Emily didn't walk with me. I had chosen an empty spot toward the middle of the bus, seeing as my usual seating area in the back was taken by a hoard of wild teenage boys.

Apparently, I had been forced to learn the fact that one of the snobby-looking girls who considered themselves popular didn't like other people sitting in their spot.

I wasn't sure how they were actually popular, seeing as I didn't even know their names. I only knew their faces from when they'd make a snide comment or two about my occasional anxiety attacks.

"Hey Roses, I suggest you scamper off to another seat," one of them told me, looking me up and down.

I must've been popular enough if she knew my last name.

"Why would you suggest that when there are several empty places on the bus?" I asked the girl, pushing myself to sound more confident and smug than how I actually felt.

"Hey if you don't want to move, that's fine. Hey, did you know that your twin sister is one of my best friends? I'm sure she'd love to know what a loner you are, and wouldn't be embarrassed at all," she tried to threaten me, but I rolled my eyes.

"Emily wouldn't care," I shot back, holding my voice steady, "She's not brainless like some people here.

The calm and cool confidence I was projecting severely deviated from my heartbeat, which made my chest feel like it was going to explode for making myself a huge target for these people.

Her other friends tried to shoot sharp glares through me, but I didn't spare them a glance. I wasn't letting her push me around today, as scared as I was.

"Maybe she wouldn't, but how embarrassed would she be to know you if someone leaked a video to the whole school of the little summer day where we took a trip to a water park and your bikini top-"

"My sister isn't shallow enough to get embarrassed about me," I interrupted her blackmail, although a chill went down my spine thinking about that day, "I don't know how that's even relevant."

"You have one last chance, Roses. Move it or I'll move you," she warned me, trying to look me in the eye, but I stared down at the floor as if I were bored with her conversation.

"There's no way you could even show that video to the whole school," I pointed out, "Just sit one seat up if you're that desperate to sit here."

Yeah, that was a bad decision made right there. She showed the video to nearly everyone in the bus by using AirDrop.

Humiliated at hearing my cry from the video echoing all over the bus, I shakily made my way to the seat in front. Was this seat really worth all that embarrassment? I pulled my phone out to see the video waiting to be accepted in my AirDrop, and I quickly declined it. I heard laughs and mean comments being made all around me from students who watched the video.

From behind me, the immature brats began throwing small paper balls at the back of my head.

When I opened them up, they all contained insults and inappropriate words. I guess a few of them were still stuck in my hair. That bratty girl and her friends made many more of them on the way to school, and dumped it on my head. A few of them went down my shirt, which I shook out quickly, wiping them off my back and stomach. 

"Okay, can you knock it off?!" I yelled at her. 

They laughed at my anger, so out of absolute frustration, I yanked her dark, shiny ponytail as hard as I could, knocking it loose.

She looked at me with raging disbelief and said, "Oh, you just made the biggest mistake of your life!"

"Oh no. I'm so scared," I said sarcastically, placing my backpack beside me as I saw them huffily sit in the seat in front.

When we got to school, she and her friends dragged me off the bus and pulled me into a janitor's closet and she punched me straight in the eye. I kicked her in the shin as hard as I could.

They all threw punches and kicks at me while I tried to scream out or defend myself. The bell rang for class and I was in extreme pain. My arms ached from the bruises, and my stomach had been kicked once I was knocked to the floor. Not to mention, I thought I felt my eye swelling from the hit I received.

"If you even dare try to tell anyone what happened or if I figure out you tried to tell anyone, I will make your life more miserable than it already is," she threatened me then walked out the room to slam the door to the janitor's closet.

What? Did she have more blackmail? Regardless, I didn't want to take the bus anymore, or even run into these people. How did they have so much strength when I was the soccer player?

I pulled myself up and ran to math class. Luckily, Emily wasn't there so I sat down and hid my face. I was crying, but she didn't need to know that. I felt scared and helpless, but I didn't need her to go fight my battles. If that girl even found out, she'd figure out another way to worsen my high school experience.

A few minutes later, I heard the seat in front of mine budge as my sister's voice rang with a greeting.

She tried to ask me what happened, but I refused to talk. I didn't need her to know. I wasn't going to keep bothering her with my stuff.

I'm a soccer player, an athlete, a quiet student. Nobody thought I cried because I normally didn’t do it in front of people. Well, except the bus where I was made fun of nearly everyday of my life. My sister knew better though.

Emily just kept begging me to tell her what happened. Still, I didn't want to out of the fear that the jerks would do worse to me. I didn't need them to go mess up something with Emily because they didn't like me.

I knew I should've told her, but I didn't want to. I should've told the principal straightaway, but I didn't want to be known as the tattletale just to get beat up again. I wanted to stay out of everyone's way and just deal with whatever I needed to.

She ended up bringing me to the principal's office and I burst into tears. 

The principal saw me freaking cry.

"I'm fine! I told you!! I don't know why you brought me here! St-Stop being so dramatic-"

As soon as I started crying, Emily sat beside me in the same chair to hug me. 

I didn’t push her away. 

One of her eyebrows rose as she came to a realization a few moments later, "It's on the bus isn't it?"

My heart dropped because I knew I was in so much trouble if she learned who did it. If she went on that bus and figured out who was responsible, she'd get all protective and angry, then I'd get in trouble with the girls when she wasn't around. 

I had to just give it up before she started randomly questioning other people she suspected, which I knew she was totally capable of doing.

"Fine, you want to know what happened?! I get teased- and pushed around! I get it every single day, Emily! I can't tell you, okay?! I'm not supposed to be telling you this because if the girls who hate me even figure out that I told you, they'd find another way to embarrass or hurt me. I-I don’t want them to know, and I didn't want you to know! Please- Please, Em. Don't tell anyone! If they find out-"

Emily's face reddened with rage. Her own eyes filled with tears, and she interrupted me, "You should've told me this!! You know- I would’ve stopped it! I would've ridden the bus with you! I would've walked to school with you! Don’t you know I care about you?! Why didn’t you tell me?”

Crying, I couldn't even look at her. I shrugged, keeping my gaze toward the ground. I knew if I spoke, it would've come out in sobs.

"I'm not letting this happen to you anymore. Sarah, I don't care what these dumb kids tell you, we need to tell a teacher or the principal. We have to tell someone, and if it means they get in trouble, it's what they deserve. I'm not letting this happen again," she promised, trying to keep her voice stable.

"Emily, they'll kill me!" I cried, "Telling you is enough to make them leak the video to more people, telling an adult will- I don’t know what they’ll do…”

When the principal came back, my sister explained the whole situation, although we didn't exactly know the names of the people who bullied me. Without a proper description and name, the students couldn't get in trouble.

I'd just have to identify them later and tell the principal, according to Emily.

When it came to lunch, I usually sat alone outside, being that I wasn't fond of forcing my presence on people who didn't want it. That bratty girl knew I sat alone, as she'd apparently seen me on occasion and done something rude from time-to-time.   


"Who do you usually sit with?" Emily asked, walking with me to the cafeteria.  


I really didn’t feel like telling her I was a loner. Sure, I had a soccer team, but none of them went to this freaking school. 

I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the floor so I wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone who might’ve already seen the video that brat sent people. 

Emily bit her lip, looking at her friends’ table.

"Anyway, you’re sitting at my table. You’ll just have to ditch your old spot," she hit me with her elbow softly.

We paid for our meals then went to sit down. I sat directly next to my sister. Her friends started to sit with us. First it was her usual squad, then other popular girls.

The bratty girl and her friends sat there too. The usually verbal one gave me the death glare and I tried to ignore it, focusing on the sandwich from the cafeteria.

Avalon, one of Emily's best friends, asked,"Hey Sarah, what happened to your eye?"

I noticed that the brat was staring at me to see what I would say.

"Some jerk on the bus beat her up," Emily responded without even giving me a chance to reply.

I looked at her with widened eyes, in disbelief she'd just say it so blatantly.

”What? You’re fine here, don’t worry," Emily told me quietly. 

I discreetly shook my head, just barely enough so it wouldn’t draw attention.

The bratty girl ran her finger across her neck horizontally to signify that I was going to be toast when she got ahold of me.

I guess she noticed.

I swallowed a big gulp and scooted closer to my sister while staring straight back down at my lunch.

My twin looked at me but then I noticed the brat girl looked as if she knew I was going to tell Emily. If looks could kill, she would've destroyed me.

I purposely dropped my phone and Emily and I both went under the table to get it.

While she was reaching for it when we were both under the table, I whispered, "Please don’t leave me alone here! I think someone here already knows you know and she looks so so mad!"

"It’s someone here? Wait, who is it?” Emily whispered back, taking my phone from the floor.

"I'll tell you later," I muttered, pulling myself back up from under the table.

Emily came up after me, suspiciously eyeing everyone at the table to theorize who might've been the one.

“Haha, thankfully it’s not shattered," she held up the phone before handing it back to me, “I guess the glass is more protective on this one.”

The bratty girl acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. She barely even looked at me. We ate lunch and I uncomfortably shoved food down my throat while being extremely nervous about what that girl was going to do to me.

The bell rang and the brat approached me. Emily was chatting with her friend, Lexi.

  
I tried to walk towards Emily as quickly as possible, but she grabbed my bag. Nearly having a heart attack, I quickly wormed out of the straps and ran back to my sister’s side.

I grabbed onto Emily’s elbow, to which she glanced at me questioningly. 

“I’ll see you later, Lexi," she promised her friend, waving as they departed. 

"What’s wrong?” Emily asked me after, quickly noticing my backpack was missing, "Did she take your bag?”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

"Who is it though?" She asked me, leading me back to where I ran from.

”I don’t know her name…”

"Is it one of my friends?" She questioned, scrunching her face in thought.

"Yeah, but not in your main friend group with Lexi, Quinn, and Avalon. She's in your bigger group that you sit with at lunch," I tried to explain.

"Hmm. Is it Emma?" Emily guessed, naming off a person she wasn't fond of.

"Is Emma the girl with dark hair, blue eyes, and freckles?" I asked her.

"No that's her friend, Shelby... Wait, you're talking about Shelby? She's the quiet girl who takes pictures of flowers! She's usually so nice, I never would've realized it was her!" Emily realized, her eyes wide with shock.

"Nice? I’ve never seen-" I cut myself off in case she was somewhere nearby to hear me.

"I never would've seen that coming! Anyway, Emma is the girl with short, curly, light brown hair," she told me.

"That's what one of her friends who helped hold me down looked like," I realized, looking back at my sister to see what she thought.

"I knew she was a fake!" Emily pointed out, laughing, "Now we have two names!"

After school was over, we made our way to her locker.

"We're taking the bus today," Emily decided, slamming her locker shut after she pulled her pink backpack out.

"No! I don’t want to see her again today! Please, can we walk?”

I rested my head against the wall, already so tired of everything. I just wanted the rest of the day to go smoothly so I could get home and have a peaceful evening.

"Hey, I've got a plan for this, and we're going to catch her in the act," Emily strategized, "You're going to go in before I do, and I'll hide myself somewhere on the bus. When she tries to say something, I'll figure out the third name of the person who follows with her, and call all of them out."

"Are you sure this will work? I mean, you're pretty easy to spot out with your pink hair," I asked her, growing anxious at the idea of dealing with her in the same situation.

What if Emily didn't get on the bus in time and I was stuck with the bullies all the way home?

"Trust me, it'll work."

Hesitantly, I agreed and so we went on the bus.

I went in an empty seat towards the middle of the bus, keeping my eyes on the floor awkwardly. Em went to sit in the back, only being noticed by the same wild teenage boys.

Shelby came in and said, "Oh Roses, you are playing one dangerous game here. You did the exact opposite of what I said to do. You naughty little potato."

"And what exactly are you planning on doing about it?" I tried to sound rebel-like, but I was too nervous. The obvious tremble in my voice gave away how anxious I was. I just wanted to hide, as pathetic as it was.

Knowing my sister was witnessing all of this was killing me even more. This was so embarrassing.

"You won't live to see tomorrow. You'll be socially dead," she shook her head, pulling out her phone. On the school social group website, she visually displayed her finger touching the upload button to get my embarrassing video up.

I cringed, burying my face in one hand. Now everyone was going to see my most embarrassing moment at school, and they'd all recognize me in that way. Emily was going to be so embarrassed to be seen with me, I worried, but luckily, she proved me wrong.

My confident older twin sister walked over to where we were sitting and said,"Oh hello, Shelby! What is this video of my sister's moment of when her bikini top slipped-"

"Okay! We get it!" I interrupted with my embarrassment, feeling my face heat up as the memory replayed in my head. I didn’t want everyone to think about it, and I especially didn’t need the reminder it ever happened.

"Why is it sent to everyone in the school?" Emily asked, sarcastically frowning and tilting her head as if she were trying to figure out the truth.

"Oh, really? I got it too! How weird!" Shelby exclaimed, pretending to be innocent.

Emily's already irritated look turned even more enraged, and I thought she was going to punch the girl.

"Then why did you upload it?! Do you realize how inappropriate that video was? That is illegal, and not to mention extremely mean! You've humiliated and hurt my sister, and I won't continue to be friends with you! Take it down, or I swear, I will get this over to the principal," Emily went off, causing Shelby to actually look shaken.

I almost wanted to laugh at how her friends were shrinking away fearfully to pretend they had no part in it. Obviously, they didn't want to be on my twin sister’s bad side.

Before she had a chance to even come up with a reply, or a lie, our bus stop came up.

"I'll be checking the website to make sure the video gets taken down," Emily threatened, glaring her down before dragging me off the bus.

Once we were off the bus, I sent her an appreciative smile, “Thanks, Em. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She smiled at me and hugged me, "Me too. Don't be afraid to tell me these things, okay?”

I nodded. 

I wasn’t sure why I struggled with hugging her back. I didn’t mind her hugging me, seeing as I actually appreciated it, but when I used to try, it felt forced and unnatural. She didn’t usually mind though.

Rosie came out and greeted us, "Hey dorks! You're finally home!!"

"Yep! How was your day?" Emily asked her.

"Boring. Very boring." Rosie responded to us.

"I wish my day was like that," I snorted, feeling the swollen area around my eye.

"Ew, you look terrible. What happened?" Rosie looked up and noticed my eye.

"Long story," Emily replied shortly, shaking her head.


	4. Chapter 4

_Sarah_

Sitting at the table with Emily, we glanced back at the child who had once been my sister's doll. She was walking around the house and picking up and dropping random things to see how heavy they were.

"So... What are we going to do with her?" I asked Emily.

"I mean— I'm pretty sure we have to keep her. We can't just send her to a foster care system. She's technically been with us all these years. I suppose I'm responsible for her," She replied, cringing when Rosie dropped a glass cat figurine, causing it to shatter into several pieces.

"It broke," Rosie announced before walking away and leaving it there.

Emily sighed, dropping her chin into her hand.

"Okay, don't worry about it," her voice trailed off weakly.

"You're right, but do you think you're responsible enough to handle a child on your own? Neither of us can drive or pay bills. You can't even discipline the girl and she was literally your doll," I pointed out.

"I don't want to scare her," she argued, then glanced back at me, "Do you remember how Mom used to act every time you would make a mistake? I don't want to make her feel the same way. She's just a kid."

"Yeah, I know. Still, you can just tell her that she shouldn't be dropping things on the floor. You don't have to say it rudely, just use some authority," I suggested.

I then watched my sister get up and walk into the hallway.

"Hey, Rosie. I get you're bored, but it's not very nice to drop things on the floor. If you want to, you can pick things up, but please put them back where they were in a gentle way."

I then heard another glass thing shatter across the wooden floor. "But then it won't multiply.”

"We don't exactly want the object to multiply. We need it to stay exactly as it is, so can you please be more careful and put things down more nicely?" I heard my sister ask her.

"Can you stop being so boring?" Rosie asked my sister in a rude manner.

Sighing, I got up and walked over to see that it was the glass of the picture frame that had broken. If Emily wasn't going to be able to discipline the pain-in-the-butt, I'd probably have to.

"Rosie, you cannot speak to Emily that way. She took care of you for so many years, and you're talking to her like that. You need to be more nice," I told her, trying to sound more like a scolding mother than a bossy sister.

"I don't know if I want to take orders from an 'insecure leech,'" Rosie rose her dainty eyebrows, crossing her arms like a bratty child. She used the insult Emily used on me once.

"Hey, no name-calling," Emily tried to use more authority.

"That's what you called her! Why do you get to call Sarah an insecure leech, but I don't?" The girl argued, looking between the both of us.

My sister sighed and looked over at me apologetically.

She crouched down to her level and told her, "I shouldn't be calling her that either. It's mean of me, and I was trying to hurt her feelings. You shouldn't try to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Oh, so you guys get to be interesting with your insults, but I have to be the boring one. That makes so much sense," said Rosie sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Nice isn't boring," Emily frowned, crossing her arms.

"When you guys aren't throwing insults left and right, it's freaking boring, so yes, nice is boring," Rosie explained her logic.

My sister looked at me wordlessly, to which I shrugged. What else were we supposed to tell this brat?

"How about we play a fun game of soccer?" She randomly redirected the conversation.

"You hate it," Rosie remembered.

"Yeah, but Sarah's day has been less than fantastic, so let's do something that'll make her feel better," she whispered to Rosie, thinking I couldn't hear her lowered volume.

I felt a hint of a smile come over me as Emily got Rosie to begrudgingly do something kind for me. My dramatic sister didn't like soccer in the slightest, but I knew she played it with me when she wanted to cheer me up.

"Can you please grab her soccer ball? Sarah will set up the cones in the back, and I'll change into more comfortable shoes," Emily politely commanded us before walking off to the lower closet.

Rosie rolled her eyes before dragging herself up the stairs, leaving me to "cone duty."

I turned around, heading outside to grab the cones. Once I picked up the stack, I placed two on both sides of the field to make the "goalie nets" for us to kick the ball into.

"How's your eye?" Emily asked, coming from behind me.

"It's less painful if I don't touch it," I answered, trying not to think about what happened.

Tears threatened at the memory, so I did my best to ignore it.

"You're not taking the bus anymore," she told me, crossing her arms, "I'm sorry... Just, I wish you had told me. Why didn't you?"

I sighed shakily, "Can we not talk about school? I'm really not in the mood, Emiline."

"Yeah," Emily's eye twitched at the use of her real name, and she looked back at me, "Just talk to me when you feel like it, okay?”

I felt my voice take on a bit of an attitude as I answered, "I will."

A soccer ball thumped against the back of my leg, and I saw Emily's humanized doll standing behind me. "Are we going to play?"

"Oh, guess you're late to the party! I'm already winning!" My sister kicked the ball away from my ankle and began to play.

"I just brought the ball! You can't make any shots without a ball!" Rosie argued, beginning to run after her.

I jumped into position, making sure to block her goal.

We did end up playing for a little while, actually dividing into teams the best we could. Since the other two were less experienced, they teamed up.

I found amusing that even though my sister claimed to not care for the game, she made a huge deal out of winning. "Oh, who are the winners?" She gloated, doing a victory dance.

Rosie seemed to have fun as well, yelling competitive insults against us every time she made a goal, "Ha! You're the experienced soccer player?"

I obviously went easy on them, allowing them to win so they wouldn't feel bad.

In the end, we were all laughing at each other, our spirits way more lifted than from before we started playing.

"Emily, I suppose you aren't hungry for dinner."

"What? I'm starving!"

"Why? You ate dirt!"

Rosie and I broke into giggles, giving each other high-fives as Emily jokingly grew offended.

"Hmmph!”


	5. Chapter 5

_Emily_

Thankfully, the soccer game managed to cheer Sarah up and help forget her terrible school day. I hoped the positive mood would stay around long enough for the next day. 

Unfortunately, the realization that she had to go back to school sent her into a panic that next morning. Rosie wasn't exactly the most helpful about the situation either.

"Hey, you're not getting back on that bus again. I won't leave you to deal with these people by yourself anymore," I reminded my sister.

"I know- but the moment you step away, they will actually murder me! Especially now that they know I told you-"

"Oh, you switched..." Rosie snickered, causing Sarah and I to share a confused glance.

”Switched what?” I asked.

"I've heard you say it. Stitches get switches," She defended herself.

"Oh, you mean 'snitches get stitches,'" I realized, causing Sarah to sink her face into her arms over the kitchen table.

"Yes," Rosie pointed at me, then sent a pitiful look toward her, "Oh, that’s bad for you, Sarah. Guess you're getting stitches."

"It's just an expression," Sarah muttered to the girl.

“You'll be fine! I one hundred percent pinkie promise you.”

She sat up, looking at me as she sighed, "I just don't think I can do it. I think I'll stay home. You should go though."

"What? Without you? That's boring!" I whined, causing her to roll her eyes a little.

"You have your friends. Don't miss class because of me," she poked my shoulder, then remembered, "Wait, can you write notes for me today?"

While I assumed she'd be fine at home with Rosie, I still didn't want to go to school knowing she was too anxious to come because of bullies. It would kill me all day, and I'd probably end up yelling at someone (a certain bully in particular).

Maybe it was best to take a day or two off?

"No," I responded simply, crossing my arms.

"No? But Em, you know I get embarrassed asking the teach-"

"No, because I'm not going to school either," I told her.

"So two dingbats are going to be sitting at home uselessly," Rosie muttered in the background.

Disregarding the younger girl's remarks, Sarah's eyes widened, "Why? You really should go!"

"We're going to Disneyland!" I announced, to which Rosie shot out of the seat and zoomed over to me.

"Disneyland?! Really? Right now?! Today?" Rosie asked, piping up with a child-like excitement (Well duh, she was a child).

"What the heck?! On a school day? Mom and Dad will kill us!" Sarah reminded me.

"That would be rude. I heard Disneyland is really fun!" Rosie countered.

"Uh, they'd kill me if I sent you alone. You're not going alone obviously."

"Em, randomly deciding to fly from Oregon to Southern California to spend a day at Disneyland isn't very realistic. We haven't planned anything, and as fun as that sounds, that's so random and expensive!" she tried to knock reality back into my head, but I wouldn't take it.

My favorite doll came to life. What even was the concept of realism anymore?

"I don't care. You're having fun today," I picked up my phone to text my friends that I wasn't going to school for the next two days.

"You're serious? We're just heading on out to Disneyland, California?" Sarah questioned, trying to study my expressions to see if I was just going to crack up and start laughing.

"Yes, I'm serious! Get packing!" I stood up, dragging her out of the chair.

Rosie followed us to our room, unsure of what to pack. She didn't exactly have belongings that were her size anymore.

"I'll pack for you," I reassured Rosie, then told Sarah, "We're staying tonight and tomorrow night, so pack accordingly."

"With what money?!" She asked, pulling her blue sparkly travel luggage out from under her bed, then my pink one out from under my bed. She kicked a few clothes that came out with the luggage back under the bed.

"Our allowances, you llama," I knocked on her head as if it were empty.

"Yeah, but Mom and Dad said we shouldn't spend too much of it in case there's an emergency!" Sarah told me, pulling the luggages open on her bed.

I gave her an exasperated look, "This is an emergency. You need a break, woman.”

She finally surrendered with an exhausted laugh, "That's so wrong, but you're not wrong about that."

"You're probably both wrong, but I don't care," Rosie chimed in, "Disneyland is more fun than school, so let's do that."

"You don't even go to school," I reminded the doll-child.

"She probably should start going to school since it's illegal for kids not to," Sarah realized, and I nodded.

"Ew, why? School sounds boring. Look what it did to Sarah's eye," Rosie pointed out.

"That was because she got bullied by very mean people, and you're getting registered when we get back from Disneyland. Sarah, get packing."


End file.
